How to Deal With an IRS Phone Scammer

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Have you ever received a pre-recorded message like this on your phone? "Hello, we have been trying to reach you. This call is officially a final notice from the Internal Revenue Service. The reason for this call is to inform you that the IRS is filing a lawsuit against you. To get more information about this case file, please call immediately on our department number. Thank you." or have you ever gotten a call from someone claiming to be from the "Legal Affairs Department" of the US Treasury insisting that you call back immediately due to pending legal action, claiming that you could potentially dodge an initial court appearance? It may sound threatening; but is the caller really who they say they are?

Realize that it's not really the IRS trying to reach you. The Internal Revenue Service will always contact you by certified USPS mail (to the last known address where you filed your taxes) if there's a problem, never by telephone, e-mail, or text message. They will also never call to demand immediate payment using a specific payment method such as a prepaid debit card, gift card or wire transfer, threaten to immediately bring in local police or other law-enforcement groups to have you arrested, threaten to take your drivers license, or do any of the many other tactics scammers take advantage of. In addition,the real IRS will never ask for credit/debit card information over the phone.

Furthermore, if you did owe money, you would first get a bill in the mail and told that the only way you'd be able to pay is by check, made payable to the US Treasury. Also, In the event that you do have an outstanding debt, you'll receive notices in the mail from the Internal Revenue Service before they'll ever try to contact you.

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If the caller mention the word "lawsuit", this is also a scam: If you're ever being sued by anyone, you would get served papers from your local sheriff's office and you would never receive a "heads up call" from law enforcement informing you of an impending lawsuit or an imminent arrest. They would just simply show up at your door, arrest you and take you to the police station. You should also realize that the IRS will never sue you for any reason whatsoever as doing so is something that's not under their authority. This is one of numerous tactics IRS Scammers will do in order to get you to act quickly.

Never give the caller any personal information. Sometimes, to convince you the call is real, scammers may already know your personal information. And sometimes; they may ask for personal information over the phone so they can "verify" your information on your "case file". If they try to pressure you to give your name, address or alternate phone number, just hang up. If you do provide them with any information whatsoever, you might be a target of identity theft, such as the scammers filing a fake tax return in your name or committing identity theft in your name.

Besides, if they're really from the IRS, wouldn't it seem unusual if you're being asked for personal information when they "should" already know this because of your tax returns? Think about it.

Listen for phony excuses. The caller will try anything to convince you the phone call is legit. Sometimes, they may use names of real government officials, law enforcement officials or even officials from the state's Department of Motor Vehicles to convince you the call is real. Sometimes, they may say they've audited; or taken a look at your tax files and claim you owe back taxes or they'll claim there's a problem on the return. And sometimes, they might say they had already tried reaching you by mail and the Postal Service returned the letters as "undeliverable". Either way, they may tell you that you owe a specific amount of money (sometimes it could be a very hefty fine). What they won't mention, however, is in reality, you have the right to question or appeal the amount they say you owe. Also, they won't mention the fact that you have and should be advised of your rights as a taxpayer.

After completing the reasons behind their call, they'll tell you that to ensure you don't get arrested and the "doom and gloom" punishments won't happen to you, you're told you have to pay a large sum on money with a prepaid debit card, wire transfer, gift card, etc. They'll then give you instructions for where to get the money and how to pay the large sum to "clear this up". No matter what they say (sometimes, they may say the cards are linked to the EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payment System)), hang up wherever and whenever possible.

Realize the phone number they're calling from is not the number of the IRS. Scammers will often "spoof" caller ID's from either the Washington DC area or different areas across the country to make you think a different branch of the IRS from that part of the country is trying to reach you. Sometimes, they may even spoof the number of your local police department, state Department of Motor Vehicles, federal agencies or others to convince you the call is real. This is a favorite tactic of scammers to make trying to call back the number very, very difficult once you provide the phone number to law enforcement. Make sure you take note of the phone number; even if the number provided doesn't match what you know the real IRS Phone number is.

Realize the scare tactics the scammers tell you is not under the real IRS's authority: The scammers will often get you to pay up fast by threatening to have you arrested, take away your drivers license (or business license), get you kicked out of the country, have you reported to the credit reporting agencies, etc. You must hold firm in the sense that everything that scammers will tell you are punishments that the real IRS will never discuss with you. Many of these scammers operate in ways that don't reflect how the IRS conducts enforcement matters; and its very important you know what to do in order to protect yourself.

Write down everything you can find out about the caller. When you file a complaint with the Treasury Department's Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), they'll want to know everything you can remember about the call. And by that, they'll need to know what they told you, how much did you "owe" them, how did they instruct you to pay, etc. Even if you never paid anyone, its important to provide as much information as possible so these scammers can be brought to justice.

Hold firm in ignoring them. If the caller claims you're going to be arrested, realize that the real IRS will never threaten to bring in police or other forms of law enforcement to have you arrested. Don't believe them if they say they'll get you kicked out of the country, take away your drivers license, or seize your property. Those are simply scare tactics to get you to pay up fast.

Do not wire any money. If the caller insists you pay immediately with a debit card, cashiers check or a wire transfer, know that the real IRS will never ask you to pay a tax bill using these untraceable methods. Neither will they ask for credit or debit card information over the phone. They will also not insist that you pay your "tax bill" with prepaid gift cards from companies like iTunes, Amazon, Greendot, etc. Also, regardless of what you're told by the scammers, the IRS does not accept gift cards or pre-paid debit cards as payment for an outstanding tax debt. Scammers may specifically ask you to buy iTunes gift cards and read gift card numbers over the phone, which in reality will not settle a debt. Remember: Once you send the money, or read off the gift card numbers, that's it. You can never, ever get the money back.

Hang up as soon as possible. Report the call immediately to TIGTA or the FTC. Contact TIGTA online at treasury.gov/tigta and fill out their form for reporting a scam. Contact the FTC online at FTC.gov or call them toll-free at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).

Warn your friends. Even if you know they didn't receive the phone call themselves, it's very important that they are warned about this right away so this way, you could potentially prevent more people from falling victim to the IRS Scam. And the more people know about this scam, the less victims these scammers might snare in their trap.

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wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 14 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has also been viewed 4,116 times.